FDA probes Gilman co-op after 6 horses die; feed mix suspected

GILMAN — The Gilman Co-Op Creamery on Monday said it could not deny nor confirm allegations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that its feed was tainted and led to the deaths of six horses.

"It’s allegations is what it is," said Adam Bonovsky, general manager of Gilman Co-Op on Monday. "I guess I’m not gonna deny or agree that the feed was contaminated," he said, because the results of the tests have not yet been returned.

The FDA is investigating Gilman Co-Op after allegations the feed was tainted by monensin, an animal drug toxic to horses.

According to a report from The Associated Press, the FDA says the creamery operators did not properly clean the equipment to remove any traces of monensin before mixing the feed for an unnamed farm. The horses died in June and July.

"The other thing to keep in mind was this feed was a custom feed for this producer," said Bonovsky. "This was a custom recipe of theirs that we mixed." So, he said, it is not a "floor stock item" and was not distributed to any other farms.

Bonovsky said he has worked at the co-op for 18 years, and monensin is used in most every other type of feed, primarily for poultry and cattle, for feed efficiency and "control of internal parasites."

"The drug’s been around forever," he said. "It’s something that we’ve used forever...I’ve been here 18 years and we’ve never had a mix up like that."

He said the feed in question was mixed on June 4, and there was a cattle feed mixed two mixes prior to the specialized horse feed. Those two mixes between, he said, were unmedicated. According to Bonovsky, the standard practice there is to sequence feed this way, and always flush the mixer before switching species.

The feed was picked up on the evening of June 8. That night a horse died. Bonovsky said the co-op was not notified until June 14, when he said the creamery immediately recalled the feed for that farm and made a new batch.

Bonovsky said he was told four horses had died, but the FDA release said six.

"I’m the one who filed a livestock food safety report upon learning there were lost or deceased animals, and I filed that immediately with the FDA," he said.

The co-op is still open and conducting business as usual until the results of the test come back. Bonovsky said the FDA is not going to fine the business or revoke its milling license.

"Is there a chance there was some cross contamination? Possibly," Bonovsky said. "We don’t really know and we can’t get into a deep investigation until we get a sample back and go back and ask what happened."

Bonovsky said he was told by the FDA not to disclose the name of the affected farm. He has not been given a date to expect final test results.

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